Falling from the Sky
by Jaclyn
Summary: Strange circumstances cause Kathryn to fall straight into the arms of her First Officer . . .


"Falling from the Sky"  
~ Jaclyn  
  
Rated PG  
  
Disclaimer: Paramount owns them. I don't. Does that surprise you? And by the way, I'm writing this only for fun and am not making any money off it...are you surprised yet? Oh yeah! And I'm a blue iguana! See, I knew I'd manage to surprise you somehow...Bad Joke. Very Bad Joke. So, forget that...  
  
Author's Note: I wrote the middle and the end before I wrote the beginning, and I also wrote the end, like, a month later. So if you notice an abrupt change in writing style, that's why. I don't really like how the beginning (which is the part before the double line break) came out, but this story isn't good enough and important enough for me to kill myself over. I've got bigger things in the works... The Point: The beginning is only there so you'll know what's going on. Don't hate me for it. Please.  
  
Author's Note, Part II: Feedback and reviews are coveted, hungered for, desired, craved, appreciated, and much, much more . . . so if you have a second, please review directly on FFN or drop me a line at musicnotej@aol.com. Thanks!  
  
And here's the story.....  
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~  
  
Kathryn twisted, craning her body so as to fit her head into the small repair hatch on her right. Her muscles ached from being forced into the numerous pretzel-positions she'd had to endure, squashed into the narrow space above the corridors on deck 2.   
  
About an hour ago, Kathryn had told B'Elanna she would help her with repairs, as the engineering teams were notoriously shorthanded. Of course, she hadn't realized that a simple task such as fixing a few flickering lights would involve squeezing into a cramped area she'd only vaguely been aware of beforehand.  
  
There! She'd gotten it! The lights should be fine now. And thank g-d, because I don't think I can stand this much longer.  
  
Kathryn stretched an arm into the space behind her, blindly groping for the missing spanner. Now that she'd fixed the lights, she just needed to switch them on...!   
  
Where IS that spanner?  
  
Kathryn wiggled around, precariously balancing her body on the edges of the open hatch beneath her, the one that led back down to the corridor.   
  
It happened so fast she didn't even have time to react. Reaching for the spanner, losing her grip on the handhold, the deck rushing up to meet her...and then HE darted forward, and the world stabilized again.   
  
It took a few seconds for her to remember to breathe. The shock of the floor suddenly falling away had severely startled and shaken her. She was mortified! How could a seasoned officer like herself do a stupid thing like lose her balance? Only cadets made that mistake...or maybe not. If this wasn't the 'compromising position' she'd been eternally warned against by Starfleet Command and its protocol, then she didn't know what was.   
  
  
"Hello," he said.  
  
"Hi," she snapped as she endeavored to free herself from his hold. Kathryn could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks and she did her best to keep her face hidden from his view. Falling straight into the arms of her First Officer was uncomfortable enough without the added complication of her feelings for him. She'd thought about what it would feel like to be in his arms, but she'd never imagined this scenario! Try as she might, she couldn't quite suppress her reaction to feeling his arms tighten around her - hence the blush.   
  
"Look," she began, in as calm a voice as she could muster. "I'm in the middle of a battle with an EPS conduit, so if it's alright with you, I'd like to return to the war zone now."  
  
"And if it's not alright with me?" he countered quietly.   
  
"Chakotay!" she hissed. "What is someone sees us like this?"  
  
"Then I'll tell them exactly what happened - that you fell from the sky and thank goodness I was here to catch you or you would have hit the deck."  
  
Janeway swallowed. "Yeah," she reluctantly conceded. "I guess it was good you were here."  
  
He snorted. "You GUESS? Do you know what the alternative was?"  
  
She sure did. Her subconscious mind WOULDN'T have a field day with   
this . . . incident. Oh god . . . she was sure to have some VERY interesting dreams tonight.  
  
"Of course I know what the alternative was. I would hit the floor hard, fracture a few bones, and be forced to take the rest of the day off and relax. You're right, it was good you were here," she said seriously.  
  
He chuckled.   
  
Feeling more at ease now, she turned to face him . . . and was met with a look of such undisguised emotion that her breath caught in her throat. Their eyes locked, and they silently communicated feelings they could never express with mere words.   
  
Her heart pounding in her chest, Kathryn frantically wished she could disentangle herself from him - but at the same time, she relished the feel of his arms around her. Forbidden pleasures, she chided herself. You can't let yourself enjoy this, it can't happen, think of the repercussions, control yourself, Kathryn, control . . .   
  
He could see her fear. It was plainly spelled out in her eyes. Funny, he mused. She's faced down the Borg, the Hirogen, Species 8472 . . . if she was afraid, she never let it show. Yet she trembles at my touch. On the other hand, I tremble at hers . . .   
  
No, Kathryn, you can't . . . command relationship, remember? . . . serious repercussions? Protocol? Protocol! Protocol . . .   
  
Chakotay, you're scaring her . . . don't push it . . .  
  
I want him . . .   
  
But I want her . . .  
  
And then his lips were on hers . . .  
  
And her lips met his . . .  
  
And then her arms were around his neck and her fingers were in his hair and his arm fell away from under her knees as he gently lowered her legs to the ground and then they broke for air and she looked into his eyes and saw only love and she thought "forbidden pleasure" but she pushed the thought away as he gathered her back into his arms and she pulled him close and their lips met again and she gave a small moan of pleasure and he deepened the kiss and it was everything she'd ever imagined it would be and it was everything he'd ever imagined it would be and the moment stretched on and on and on . . .   
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~  
  
"Deck 2," Tom ordered the turbolift as he stepped inside. He glanced at his wrist chrono and breathed a sigh of relief. He still had 5 minutes, which was good, because one did NOT want to be late to a lunch date with a half-klingon - especially one with a temper like B'Elanna's.   
  
The turbolift doors opened with a soft hiss. Tom strolled out, humming an old rock and roll song from the 1980's. That was what he did when in high spirits - he hummed.  
  
Tom turned the corner . . . and stopped dead, the melody catching in his throat.  
  
Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were wrapped in each other's arms, lost in a passionate kiss.   
  
It wasn't the fact that his two commanding officers were happily smooching away that surprised him - no; it was the fact that they were doing it NOW. He'd always believed that they two of them were perfect for each other, but after 7 years, he'd given them up for a lost cause.   
  
Or not.   
  
He tried to sneak quietly away, but it was too late, for apparently they'd already realized that they weren't alone anymore. Chakotay's eyes flew open and Janeway leapt away from him, seeming to recoil into herself. She looked at Tom with haunted eyes and an embarrassed (and almost fearful) expression on her face.   
  
Kathryn turned to Chakotay, and Tom assumed that her eyes conveyed a silent apology of some sort. Then she mumbled something unintelligible - Tom wasn't even sure to whom it was directed.   
  
Her eyes flitted back to him for a second, and he tried to tell her that it was no big deal - it was fine with him if she stole a kiss or two now and then - but she had already slipped into a nearby Jefferies tube.   
  
Tom gazed at the space where she had been a moment ago, his good mood a thing of the past. He hadn't meant to intrude, or to embarrass his captain. It had been an accident! He didn't fully understand why she had been so mortified. It was unlike her to run away without trying to reclaim her usual dignity first.   
  
Women. He loved 'em, but he would never understand them.   
  
The Chief Helmsman turned to his First Officer. "I'm sorry," he said helplessly. "I didn't mean to intrude. I'm not even sure what I interrupted! Why was the captain so embarrassed? It was just a kiss -"   
  
"No, Tom," Chakotay broke in. "It wasn't 'just a kiss.'" His left thumb and index finger were rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Look. It's not your fault. You don't have to feel bad, although I do have to tell you that you've got an awful sense of timing." He sighed. "On the other hand, maybe it's good you came when you did . . . she would have really beaten herself up if we had gotten any further. And the things we might have ended up saying to each other . . . I can only imagine the lecture she's giving herself now, about protocol and god knows what else." He sighed again. "Why the hell am I telling you this?"  
  
"I don't know, Chakotay," Tom said reasonably. "But maybe it's because you know I care about her too. Not the way you do, but as a friend. I . . . owe her a lot. And I want her to be happy. If she's happy with you, I have no complaints. And I'm pretty sure the rest of the crew feels the same way.   
  
"But . . . no, I won't tell anybody about this, since I already know you'll ask me not to, because I know the captain would just HATE it if the whole ship knew that she's not the sexless captain she pretends to be."   
  
"You mean that, Paris? This won't be the subject of tomorrow's breakfast conversations?"  
  
"Yeah," he said honestly.   
  
Chakotay nodded. "Good . . . and . . . that's a really nice gesture on your part . . . I know how many rations you could make off your little betting pools if this was public knowledge . . . so . . . thanks, both from Kathryn and from me."  
  
"You're welcome." Tom glanced at his chrono again. "Oh shoot!" he exclaimed. "I'm late!"  
  
Chakotay's lips quirked in a smile. "B'Elanna?" he queried.  
  
"Yup. Gotta run."  
  
Chakotay nodded his good-byes. Tom started down the corridor at a jog, then stopped and called over his shoulder: "And Chakotay . . . don't give up."  
  
The First Officer raised an eyebrow and shook his head. This was turning out to be a very interesting, if exceedingly strange, day.  
  
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Love it? Hate it? Please let me know! Musicnotej@aol.com (but please, no flaming...)  



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